Tunnel cementing apparatus



March 13, 1943. M. F.1EMPER 2,313,326

TUNNEL CEMENTING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 17, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l IW venia/r MAXWELL if f/vffn.

March 16, 1943.'- M. F. KEMPER I 2,313,826

TUNNEL CEMENTING APPARATUS I i Filed'sept. 17,1940 4 2 sheeisfs'neet 2 Patented Mar. 16, 1943 UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE TUNNEL CEMENTINGlA APPARATUS Maxwell F. Kemper, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application September 17,1940, Serial No. 357,121

(Cl. SBZ- 17) Claims.

This inventionrelates to apparatus for placing concrete in tunnels in the lining thereof after completion -of the boring: operation'as is common with tunnels used for roadways, aqueducts and the like.

The principal object of the` invention is to facilitate the transportation andhandling'of the concrete used in suchlinings, and to provide comparatively simple apparatus for the purpose.

Briefly, the invention comprises a concrete or` cementcarryinghopper unit mounted on a truck which can be run'` in andout of the tunnel to receive loads of concrete or cement from a mixer at the mouth4 ofy the tunnel, and having a concrete-discharge conduit and an air-receiving line,` each of which carries one portion of the separable connections, the other of which is in turnl carried` by a second or discharge unit comprising a mounting for aconcrete-discharge pipe or nozzle and air supply line, whichsecondunit and mounting remain at the location in the tunnelwhich is currently beingv cemented or lined with concrete. The invention also comprises the spe'cc constructions and arrangements of such separable connections or couplings, aswell as the combina-` tion of a vibrator for insuring descent of the concrete in the hop-per, and other features hereindescribed.

In the accompanying drawings wherein certain embodiments `of the invention are illustrated:

Fig. 1 is" chieflyY a side elevation showing the `two principal units of the present invention in v Fig. l is a sideeleVat-ion thereof indisconnected relation with` portions insection;

Fig. `5'is a side elevation thereof in connected position; and v -Figs 6 and 7 are respectively a side elevation and a plan view of a modified form of coupling,y

minor por-tions being broken away.

In Fig. 1f, theV apparatus asa whole is shown with the concrete'receivingand carryingunit R disconnected fromv the concrete discharging or applying unit. Hereja concrete-receiving hopper In has a conical bottom which feeds to a horizontal throat section II disposed longitudinally of the direction of travel of the' device `along tracks which are engaged by the wheels W upon which the hopper is mounted. Any suitable cover I2 is employed to seal the mouth I2' of the hopper I8 which thereby becomes a pressure chamber., after it has been lled with concrete as from a mixer M carriedon an elevated structure S whereby the concrete is fed through a chute C or the like.

`weighted lever arm I1.

The concrete is adapted to be passed from throat II to a connecting section lconnecting the throat section I I withV a coupler section I4. To preventloss of concrete when thereceiver unit R is being moved with its charge from the mouth of the tunnel back into the tunnel tooperative position, a gate valve ISadapted to swing within section I3 is pivotally mounted in a cover plate I6 and adaptedV to be held in the closed position shown in both Figs. l and 2v by means of a The gate valve I 5 is sufciently narrow at its widest point to'enable it to be swung up against the cover plate I6 and` clear the. main channel during operations; attheV same time this-plate will retain the concrete from flowing out when the valve is closed.

When the lled hopper Ill has been' moved along the tracks into the tunnel, an inner-annular coupling element I8 which may be an. integral extension of section I4 comesinto aline- Vnient with an` outer annular'coupling; element I9 concrete discharge pipe or ductZ-which is shaped somewhat as indicated to discharge concrete von the top of forms F which have been built in properly spaced relation with respect to the walls of the tunnel bored in the earth E so that the concrete works down around'the forms and is packed on top thereof to `form the desired concrete or cement lining. According to the usual practice, the discharge pipe 20 is drawn forward as the work progresses, and. for this purpose the element I9 is mounted on a carriage member K provided with wheels W traveling on the tracks running into the tunnel.

The concrete is pneumatically discharged through pipe 2D by means of highspressure air supplied by air hoseI-I. This hose` leads from an air compressor at the mouth of the tunnel along the side of the tracks and then ,loops back behind the carriage K as the latter is drawn fortoward the tunnel mouthastheoperations proceed. To make theair connection, a coupler element 2l is carried on the coupler section I4 of the concrete carrier R. Element 2| maybe integral with section- I4 as shown, and has an internally tapered bore to receive an externally tapered coupler element 22 carried by a section 23 connected with `the air hose Hf To insure alinement of coupler elements 2|` and 22 so that Ythey may properly couple when the elements I8 `and i9 of the concrete-discharge coupling device alinel and couple, the section 23 is mounted upon concrete coupler.

passes from element 2I to an air line 21 leading around the conical lower end of the hopper I and thence to a connection 28 containing an air control valve Whose spring-controlled valve stem 29 projects from the member 28 and is operated through a rod and lever linkage 30 by means of a hand-operable lever 3l. A small air line 21' tor V mounted on the wall of the conical bottom of hopper I 0 to insure continuous descent of the concrete during the blowing or discharge of the concrete.

In preparing to operate this form of the device, the lled hopper unit or receiver R is moved into the 'tunnel to bring the coupling elements I8, I9 and 2|, 22 into alinement as in Fig. 4, and then into actual operative or telescoped engagement as in Figs. 3 and 5. rIn order to lock the parts in this position, rods or links 35 carrying eyes 36 on each side of the discharge element I9, are swung down'so that the eyes 36 engage over lugs or ears 31 on the sides of the section `I4. The ends of rods 35 are pivotally connected to a forged bent lever 38 at 38', the two forks being fulcrumed at 39 on the sides of section I9. .A bail 40 connected with rods 35 permits easy manipulation of the latter and stops 4I limit the movement of lever 38 into locking positions. When the coupling elements I8, I9 and ZII, 22 are brought together, lever 38 is raised to the dotted line position of Fig. 5, the eyes 38 are dropped over ears 31, and lever 33 is then moved to the full line position, thereby moving the pivots 38' past dead center with respect to fulcrum 39 and locking the parts.

The discharge pipe 20 will have already had its discharge endV placed in desired position, and cover I2 will have been sealed in yclosed position. Thereupon air will be supplied to connection 2|, 22, 23 from hose H through any suitable'v-alve means, not shown, and lever I1 will be elevated to open. valve I5. Y Vibrator V will now be in oper-` I8, I!)Y and pipe'20 into place above and at the sides of forms F. As the operation proceeds, the hopper unit I8 and the discharge unit D will be moved forward along the tracks to keep pace with the concrete placement. A tie chain connected with carriage K may be used to anchor the units to the tracks as indicated if desirable.

Wherefunevenness of tracks is apt to interfere with proper sealing of the couplers I 8, I9 and 2|, '22, the air connection may be horizontally alined with theY concrete connection as in Figs. 6

and '7 instead of in vertical alinement asl in the form of the other figures. Here the air pipes 23 and 21 are divided and branches are run down at'the sides of the concrete discharge connec- -tions so that the center lines of lall are in horizontal alinement. Thus, there will be two air line couplingsZI, 22', one at each side of the It may also be desirableto provide for pneumatic operation of the locking means, and for this purpose the locking rods 35 are provided with hooked ends 38 to engage over .may lead from air line 21 to a pneumatic vibra-f,

ears 31', While their opposite ends are pivoted to the outer ends of piston rods 44 connected with pistons 45 working in cylinders 46 at the sides of pipe section 28. Manually operated levers 41 control valves 48 to supply air selectively to opposite ends of the pistons by branches 49, the valves 48 receiving their supply from nipples let into the sides of the air pipe section 23. Thus the locking rods 35' may be moved to and from locking position by manipulation of air valves 48.`

A bail 4D' permits both rods 35 to be raised or lowered manually as may be desired.

I claim:

l. In pneumatic materials-handling apparatus the combination of an air supply line, a materials discharge line, a container adapted to be connected to said lines, coupling elements operatively connected to said container and pointing in the same direction, a unit supporting coupling elements in position for mating with the first mentioned coupling elements, the second mentioned coupling elements pointing in the same direction, and being operatively connected to said lines, and guide means for limiting the relative movement between the first mentioned coupling elements and the second mentioned coupling elements to a direction axial of the coupling elements. y

2. The device of claim l in which the container and its coupling elements are guided along a line longitudinally of the axes of the coupling ele-L ments 3. The device of claim 1 in which the axes of the coupling elements are disposed in a substantially horizontal plane.

4. In pneumatic materials-handling apparatus the combination of an air supply line, a materials discharge line, a container adapted to be connected to said lines, coupling elements operatively connected to said container and pointing in the same direction, a unit supporting coupling elements in position for mating with the rst mentioned coupling elements, the second mentioned coupling elements pointing in the same direction and being operatively connected to said lines, at least one of said elements being tapered to thereby guide the respective mating elements together, and guide means limiting movement of the rst mentioned coupling elements to a direction axially with respect to the second mentioned coupling elements.

5. In pneumatic materials-handling apparat-us the combination of an air supply line, a materials discharge line, a container adapted to be connected to said lines, coupling elements operatively connected to said container and pointing in the same direction, a unit supporting coupling elements in position for mating-with the first mentioned coupling elements, the second mentioned coupling elements pointing in the same direction and being operatively connected to said lines, the axes of all the coupling elements bein-g disposed in a substantially vertical plane, and one of said coupling elements being tapered to thereby guide the respective elements together, and guide means limiting the relative movement between the rst mentioned and second mentioned coupling elements to a direction axially of the coupling elements.

MAXWELL F. KEMPER. 

